What's Wrong With This Picture?
by Cupe
Summary: It's just another day in Radiant Garden. Implied sex.


**_(Author's Note: Written for a Halloween fic contest over at Kingdomhearts on DA. if you have a DA, please pop over and check it out, it's organised by Xanrivash so it ought to be good!)_**

**What's Wrong With This Picture?**

When he woke up that morning he knew something was wrong. Perhaps it was how he stumbled and hit his head against the door frame on his way to the bathroom straight after getting out of bed. Or maybe stubbing his toe on his return. Whatever it was, Ienzo had a feeling the day wouldn't improve any.

Breakfast proceeded as it always had; Aeleus was as silent as the grave, staring into the newspaper and somehow managing to manoeuvre a teapot and toast without drawing his eyes away from the print. Xehanort likewise was occupied with a recent report, his hand reached blindly for the coffee jug once more. Braig and Dilan could be head approaching down the hall, the two friends laughing and telling crude and demeaning jokes concerning the local women and supposed exploits in their bedrooms, the truthfulness of each story very much doubtful. Even's seat is vacant, not wholly unusual as the scientist often worked late into the night and slept through his alarm the next morning.

After breakfast, Ienzo headed down to the library to continue researching his latest project: The heart. It was a mysterious thing. Many believed the soul resided there, though countless autopsies showed that there was nothing more than blood and muscle in the organ. No place for a soul to reside, surely? And yet, there was indeed evidence that when one felt strong emotion, the heart was affected. Longing to find an answer, their master had put them to work on it and they were slowly unravelling its mysteries.

Ienzo's current area of interest was relationships and the way a person's heart interacted with that of another. Were two hearts truly meant to beat as one? Did they begin this way or was this resonance formed after the two had met? So far he had found no answers in any of the ancient texts he had scoured and, deciding that some practical work was in order, he went to the laboratories where he hoped to find Even.

It was nearing noon now and the blond scientist was indeed there, tinkering away with a microscope while a vial of reddish liquid bubbled away over a burner. Ienzo stood silently and observed for several moments, knowing that trying to catch Even's attention would only end in something being damaged. So focussed was the man's concentration that even Aeleus had cracked a smile at Braig's suggested notion that the whole castle could fall down around him and Even would not notice so long as his work was not disturbed. The boy waits, silent, withholding his curiosity, lest it morph into an uncontrollable beast.

He doesn't want Even to be angry with him. Not after he has strived and worked to have the elder man respect him, be impressed by his meagre talent that still pales before Even's own skills and achievements. One day, Ienzo swears, one day he will make a breakthrough that will merit more than smiles and lingering touches.

It's not as if those small upward quirks of Even's lips don't make him giddy, or that he dislikes the surprisingly soft fingers lacing themselves in his hair, but he wants something...More.

The camaraderie Even has with Xehanort and Master Ansem...Something he doesn't share. They say he is too young but Ienzo knows better.

He isn't good enough yet

But soon.

"Ienzo." His daydreams are shattered and he flinches, startled by the terse use of his name. He looks up sharply, flushed, realising he had been caught off guard,

"Y-yes...?"

Even sighs and Ienzo wilts, aware he has disappointed the man, "Do you need something?"

"N-no..I mean...Well..." He stumbled over his words, getting flustered and looking at the floor. The tiles were arranged in blocks of five. Three white, two black. They were each about a foot across. Fifteen along the far wall made the width of the room fifteen feet and...

"Ienzo." He jumped again, apologising.

"...I...I needed some help." He admitted finally, refusing to look at Even, ashamed of this weakness. A gentle hand comes to rest on his shoulder, lightly squeezes and ignores how prominently the bones dig into his palm,

"I'll can do that." he assured him and leads the boy off by the hand, smirking in a way that both frightens and excites the boy.

Ienzo doesn't really remember what happens next, putting the hazy memory down to the intense sensations and distractions that had no doubt occurred. It's strange, though, as he's sure he remembered the times before and why would his brain be so cruel as to leave him no recollection of such significant and pleasurable moments?

He doesn't know. He can only guess a story from the map of bruises and marks that now adorn his body, the ones from their previous sessions fading into yellow now, replaced by dark purples and blues with a few splashes of red here and there. He tried to ask Even what they had done together, embarrassed that his memory had failed him so, but needing to have answers.

Even dodged the question, claiming to be too busy, and promptly locked the boy out of the laboratories.

Ienzo beat frantically upon the thick door, screaming at Even to let him in and why was he doing this? He didn't understand.

"It's for your own good." Ienzo threw himself away from the door as a voice that certainly wasn't Even's hissed words through the door. Heart in his mouth, he stared wide-eyed at the suddenly imposing white door. Strange, he could have sworn it was the same cool blue as the rest of the labs...

Thick fingers grasped his arm, tightening and threatening to break it if he dared struggle. Ienzo looked around fearfully, staring into familiar green eyes and a malicious smirk that made him feel sick-

"Ienzo!" The boy gasped, fingers scrabbling to fight off his attacker and get away, kicking the heavy presence off himself and hissing as the sudden drop in temperature shocked him from the nightmare. He stared down at his hands, tangled in his bed sheets – White, flawless white – then looked about slowly, his bedroom, Even standing by his bed, looking worried.

"Even? But...I..." The blond man shook his head and sat on the edge of Ienzo's bed, wrapping his arms around the boy, "Just a dream...Huh." Ienzo smiled, relaxing and closing his eyes. Just a bad dream.

Zexion wakes in another world, staring up at the harsh lighting and the too-white walls. His fingers are tangled in the stiff bed sheets – White and red, stained red – and he cannot move. He looked around, slowly, the figure by his bed not the handsome man he remembers, but an insult of a doctor. Short and scruffy with dark stubble that he knew felt horrible against his skin, dark hair and too-familiar green eyes.

Zexion smiles and whispers the name of a lover he hasn't ever met, closing his eyes and letting Radiant Garden return to him.

**_(Post Script: Hopefully it's obvious what is happening...If not, I wrote it poorly! Please review and let me know!)_**


End file.
